Martin O'Neill says he is delighted to welcome Harry Arter back into the Republic of Ireland squad and remains hopeful that Declan Rice will commit his international future to Ireland.
O'Neill has named a 32-man provisional squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Wales and Denmark, with Rice again absent as he considers his international future.
Captain Seamus Coleman (foot) Jonathan Walters (Achilles) and Stephen Ward (knee) are out injured, while Burnley's Robbie Brady is still short of match fitness after his long-term injury.
More positively for O'Neill, Arter is included after his highly publicised falling out with assistant manager Roy Keane in the summer, while James McClean and Shane Long are also part of the squad.
The Ireland manager says he remains "hopeful" that West Ham's Rice will add to his three Ireland caps, though admitted there was no deadline in place for a decision.
"I have spoken to Declan and his family. They want a little more time to make their minds up," he said.
Asked whether he viewed it as a setback that he hadn't come to a decision with England signalling their interest, O'Neill said: "No, not at all. He hasn't chosen anyone yet."
The 66-year-old said "lessons were learned" as on-loan Cardiff City player Arter returns to the fold for the home games against Denmark and Wales following his bust-up with Keane.
"Roy and Harry had conversations," O'Neill confirmed. "Harry is happy to be in the squad and wants to put it behind him. And I think Roy does as well.
While the manager wouldn't be drawn on whether Keane apologised to the player, he reaffirmed that Arter is "happy with the outcome".
"I'm delighted. We don't have that many players playing in the Premier League. Although his club side [Cardiff City] are finding it difficult at this minute, at least Harry is playing.
"I think we have all learned something from it. I think there is a few people that he would like to prove wrong, and prove to himself for a start. The game is about trying to prove people wrong. The conversation they had was excellent."
Former Dundalk star Richie Towell is included for the first time and O'Neill says he has made strides since moving from Brighton in search of first-team football.
"We have a number of players who do not play regularly in their sides. Richie at least is playing a few games now with Rotherham and will have more confidence."
Darragh Lenihan, Derrick Williams, Greg Cunningham, Alan Browne, Shane Long, Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan return to the squad after missing the September matches, though O'Neill says that captain Coleman isn't expected to return to full fitness for another few weeks.
"Ten or 12 days ago, he certainly wasn't ruling himself out, but things have happened very recently and it is a major set-back for him and for us. He will recover, but we're looking towards the end of the month before he might be back again."
